Hughie Jennings
Hugh Ambrose Jennings (April 2, 1869 – February 1, 1928) was a Major League Baseball player and manager from 1891-1925. Jennings was a leader, both as a batter and as a shortstop, with the Baltimore Orioles teams that won National League championships in 1894, 1895, and 1896. During the three championship seasons, Jennings had 355 RBIs and hit .335, 386, and .401. Jennings was a fiery, hard-nosed player who was not afraid to be hit by a pitch to get on base. Also in 1896, he was hit by a pitch 51 times – a major league record that has never been broken. Jennings also holds the career record for being hit by a pitch with 287, with Craig Biggio (who retired in 2007) holding the modern day career record of 285. Jennings also played on the Brooklyn Superbas teams that won National League pennants in 1899 and 1900. From 1907-1920, Jennings was the manager of the Detroit Tigers, where he was known for his colorful antics, hoots, whistles, and his famous shouts of “Ee-Yah” from the third base coaching box. Jennings suffered a nervous breakdown in 1925 that forced him to leave Major League Baseball. He died in 1928 and was posthumously inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945. Early years Born in Pittston, Pennsylvania, Jennings worked as a breaker boy (young boys who separated the coal from the slate) in the local anthracite coal mines. He drew attention playing shortstop for a semi-professional baseball team in Lehighton, Pennsylvania in 1890. He was signed by the Louisville Colonels of the American Association in . He stayed with the Colonels when they joined the National League in and was traded on June 7, to the Baltimore Orioles. Baltimore Orioles: 1893-1899 Jennings played with the Orioles for parts of seven seasons and became a star during his years in Baltimore. The Baltimore Orioles teams of , , and are regarded as one of the greatest teams of all time. The teams featured Hall of Fame manager Ned Hanlon and a lineup with six future Hall of Famers: first baseman Dan Brouthers, second baseman John McGraw, shortstop Jennings, catcher Wilbert Robinson, right fielder ”Wee Willie” Keeler, and left fielder Joe Kelley. During the Orioles’ championship years, Jennings had some of the best seasons ever by a major league shortstop. In , he hit .386, scored 159 runs, collected 204 hits, knocked in 125 runs, and stole 53 bases. In , his performance was even better, as he hit .401 (2nd best in the National League) with 209 hits, 121 RBIs, and 70 stolen bases. The fiery Jennings was also known as one of the most fearless players of his time, allowing himself to be hit by a pitch more than any other player. In one game, he was hit by a pitch three times. In 1896, he was hit by a pitch 51 times—a Major League record that still stands. In just five seasons with the Orioles from 1894-1898, Jennings was hit by a pitch an unprecedented 202 times. During one game, Jennings was hit in the head by a pitch in the 3rd inning, but managed to finish the game. As soon as the game ended, Jennings collapsed and was unconscious for three days.Detnews.com | Michigan History at info.detnews.comCAM Cornelliana at cornellalumnimagazine.com Jennings was also one of the best fielding shortstops of the era. He led the National League in fielding percentage and putouts three times each. He had as many as 537 assists and 425 putouts in single seasons during his prime. His 425 putouts ties him with Donie Bush for the single season record for a shortstop. In 1895, he had a career-high range factor of 6.73—1.19 points higher than the league average (5.54) for shortstops that year. He once handled 20 chances in a game, and on another occasion had 10 assists in a game. In 1898, he threw his arm out, and his career as a shortstop came to an end. After that, Jennings was forced to move to first base. Brooklyn Superbas and Philadelphia Phillies: 1899-1903 In 1899, when manager Ned Hanlon moved to the Brooklyn Superbas, several of his star players, including Jennings, Joe Kelley, and Willie Keeler followed. While Jennings was never the same after the injury to his arm in 1898, he contributed to Brooklyn’s National League pennants in and . In 1901, Jennings was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies. However, his failing arm cut his career short, as he never played in more than 82 games or hit above .272 in two seasons with the Phillies. Jennings played 6 games for the Superbas in 1903, effectively ending his playing career, with the exception of 9 at bats during his tenure as the manager of the Detroit Tigers. Cornell Law School and an off-season law practice While playing for the Orioles in the 1890s, Jennings and John McGraw both attended classes at St. Bonaventure University. After the 1899 season, Jennings was accepted to Cornell Law School. He managed the Cornell baseball team while studying law and concluded that he was well-suited to being a manager.TheDeadballEra.com :: HUGHIE JENNINGS' OBIT at www.thedeadballera.com Jennings continued as a scholar-athlete until the spring of 1904, when he left campus early to manage the Orioles. Though he never finished his law degree at Cornell, Jennings passed the Maryland bar exam in 1905 and started a law practice. He continued to work at his law practice during the off-season through the remainder of his baseball career. The "Ee-Yah" years: 1907-1920 In , Jennings was hired as the manager of a talented Detroit Tigers team that included future Hall of Famers Ty Cobb and Sam Crawford. Jennings led the Tigers to three consecutive American League pennants, in -08-09. However, Jennings' teams lost the 1907, 1908, and 1909 World Series to the "Tinker to Evers to Chance" Chicago Cubs and Honus Wagner's Pittsburgh Pirates. Jennings continued to manage the Tigers through the 1920 season, though his team never won another pennant. During his years as Detroit’s manager, Jennings became famous for his antics, mostly in the third base coaching box, which variously included shouts of “'Ee-Yah',” and other whoops, whistles, horns, gyrations, jigs, and grass-plucking. The "Ee-Yah" whoop became his trademark and was accompanied with waves of both arms over his head and a sharp raising of his right knee. In 1907, he was suspended for taunting opponents with a tin whistle. The "Ee-Yah" shouts continued and became such a trademark that Jennings became known as Hughie "Ee-Yah" Jennings, and Detroit fans would shout "Ee-Yah" when Jennings would appear on the field. (See also Jack Smile, Ee-yah: The Life And Times Of Hughie Jennings, Baseball Hall Of Famer) Behind the antics was a great coaching mind. Connie Mack called Jennings one of the three greatest managers in history, along with John McGraw and Joe McCarthy. One of his greatest challenges, and accomplishments, during his years in Detroit was to manage the unmanageable -- Ty Cobb. Jennings recognized Cobb’s talent and his complicated psychological makeup and concluded the best strategy would be to let Cobb be Cobb. Jennings reportedly called Cobb aside one day and said: “There isn’t anything about baseball I can teach you. Anything I might say to you would merely hinder you in your development. The only thing for you to do is go ahead and do as you please. Use your own judgment.. . . . . Do what you think is best and I’ll back you up.” In , during a game in which "pick-ups" played for the Tigers when the regular team went on strike to protest the suspension of Cobb after an incident involving a fan in the stands whom Cobb assaulted, Jennings, who also sent his coaches in as substitute players, came to bat himself once as a pinch hitter. According to one source, when the umpire asked him for whom he was batting, Jennings answered, "None of your business." The umpire noted on his lineup sheet, "Jennings--batted for exercise." (Source, Fireside Book of Baseball, 1956...Edited by Charles Einstein. Story by Bugs Baer; Title not remembered, but may be "1912: Philadelphia Athletics 24, Detroit Tigers 2.", plus at least one other baseball book. In Baseball's Unforgettable Games by Joe Reichler and Ben Olan (1960), the game appears under the title of "The Tigers Strike over Cobb's Suspension"; Jennings is in fact listed in the box score in that book as a pinch-hitter.) While Jennings was fiery, hard-nosed, colorful, and even eccentric, he insisted he had always played the game honestly. When a scandal arose in 1926 concerning whether Ty Cobb and Tris Speaker had fixed a 1919 game between Detroit and Cleveland—while Jennings was the manager--, Jennings initially spoke of how easy it would be to fix a game and issued a "no comment" on the specific game. After his "no comment" drew negative publicity, Jennings issued a statement to the press in December 1926 denying knowledge of the matter and adding: "My slate has been clean base ball for 35 years. . . . Whatever I have done in base ball has been of such a nature that I would be ready any time to go before anyone and place my case before them." (Al Stump, Cobb: The Life and Times of the Meanest Man Who Ever Played Baseball (1994), pp. 372-373) New York Giants: 1921-1925 After the 1920 season, Jennings stepped down as the Tigers’ manager. He signed on as a coach with his old friend, John McGraw, who was managing the New York Giants. Jennings and McGraw, who met as teammates on the Orioles, became close friends. Jennings was the best man at McGraw's wedding and a pallbearer following the death of McGraw's 23-year-old wife in 1899.The Ballplayers - Hughie Jennings | BaseballLibrary.com at www.baseballlibrary.com McGraw and Jennings staged a reunion year after year on their birthdays. When McGraw became ill, Jennings filled in as the Giants' manager for parts of 1924 and 1925. His overall managing record was 1184-995. A lifetime of tragic accidents Jennings’ life was filled with several tragic accidents. There was the beaning incident in Philadelphia that left him unconscious for three days. While attending Cornell, he fractured his skull diving head-first into a swimming pool at night, only to find the pool had been emptied. In December 1911, Jennings came close to death after an off-season automobile accident. While driving a car given to him by admirers, Jennings’ car overturned while crossing a bridge near Goldsboro, Pennsylvania. In the crash, Jennings again fractured his skull, suffered a concussion of the brain, and broke both legs and his left arm. For several days after the accident, doctors were unsure if Jennings would survive. The physical abuse and blows to the head undoubtedly took their toll. During the 1925 season, McGraw was ill, and Jennings was put in full charge of the Giants. The team finished in second place and the strain caught up with Jennings, who suffered a nervous breakdown when the season ended. According to his obituary, Jennings “was unable to report” to spring training in 1926 due to his condition. Jennings retired to a sanitarium in Asheville, North Carolina. He did return home to Scranton, Pennsylvania, spending much of his time recuperating in the Pocono Mountains. In early 1928, Jennings died from meningitis in Scranton, Pennsylvania at age 58. Jennings was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1945 as a player. Career statistics Notes See also * 1909 Detroit Tigers season External links * * *Article in the Cornell Alumni Magazine *Detroit News Article: The "Ee-yah Man" *New York Times Obituary Category:1869 births Category:1928 deaths Category:People from the Scranton--Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area Category:People from Pennsylvania Category:Sportspeople from Louisville, Kentucky Category:People from Baltimore, Maryland Category:People from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:Hall of Fame Category:Managers Category:Major League Baseball Managers Category:Detroit Tigers managers Category:New York Giants managers Category:Baltimore Orioles (NL) players Category:Brooklyn Superbas players Category:Philadelphia Phillies players Category:Louisville Colonels players Category:Detroit Tigers players Category:19th-century players Category:Major League Baseball coaches Category:Major League Baseball shortstops Category:Major League Baseball players from Pennsylvania Category:Irish-American sportspeople Category:Irish Americans Category:St. Bonaventure University alumni Category:Cornell Law School alumni Category:Georgia Bulldogs baseball coaches Category:Mansfield University of Pennsylvania alumni Category:Shortstops Category:Players